By Matt Hardy
Former racing drivers David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen and Allan McNish are looking to raise £50m as part of a consortium of investors focusing on classic cars.
The trio of motorsporting stalwarts are non-executive directors of a classic car investment firm that listed on the London Stock Exchange as Tertre Rouge Assets PLC (TRA) in December 2022.
TRA will look to use the networks of the drivers, who have Le Mans and Formula 1 wins and global world championships to their names, to sell specialist cars to high-end buyers in a growing market that looks to be replicating art and whiskey in being valuable investment alternatives away from traditional commodities and stocks.
Cars accelerating in market
Coulthard told City A.M.: “Having been involved with cars for all of my life I’ve had the privilege to enjoy and benefit from these appreciating assets.”
Hakkinen said: “The value of the most collectable classic cars has risen significantly over recent years and our ability to bring that opportunity to fellow enthusiasts is truly exciting.”
The trio, according to TRA’s website, have just under three per cent of issued share capital apiece.
The company aims to be the first publicly traded global consolidator focused on collectable cars and have a shopping list with cars valued upwards of £1m – City A.M understands some could be worth £10m.
Of the £50m, TRA aims to invest £32m into classic cars with the remaining sum held for related businesses – next year the global classic car market is estimated to be worth over $43bn.
Growth and opportunity
Steven Schapera, executive chairman of TRA, told City A.M.: “We began co-investing a few years ago.
“There’s a commercial opportunity here. [Before us] the only way you could do this was by investing in a fund where you get no liquidity.
“So we decided to list on the main board of the London Stock Exchange.”
It is hoped that the networks of the former motorsport drivers will be key in identifying cars, finding gems and capitalising on these in the open market.
Furthermore, TRA states that the market for cars is growing and points to new opportunities in the likes of India as potential areas to exploit going forward.
